Barcelona's Bartomeu backs plan to play LaLiga games abroad

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu says multiple LaLiga matches each season should be played outside of Spain.

Girona's home game against Barcelona last month was initially planned to be played at Miami's Hard Rock Stadium as part of a new deal between the league and media company Relevent Sports.

But Barcelona withdrew from the proposal citing "a lack of consensus over this proposal", with the Royal Spanish Football Federation and FIFA both having come out against the plan.

Barca defender Gerard Pique also voiced his concerns while the Association of Spanish Footballers said the body was not consulted over the idea.

Bartomeu, though, has indicated Barcelona are open to playing future LaLiga matches abroad.

"If we want LaLiga to be strong, we are to play in these games," Bartomeu said to BBC Sport.

"At Barca we have sometimes been talking to LaLiga and have been telling them that if you want to promote LaLiga more and more, then we should have three games of the year outside - one in America, one in the Middle East and one in Asia.

"We have to go and be closer to the fans. We do the summer tours in July and August to go closer to the fans. It's us showing respect to them, going to Miami would have been respect to our fans in the USA."

LaLiga's chief communications officer Joris Evers confirmed plans to play league games outside of Spain are continuing despite the Miami plan failing.

"Of course, we strongly support any club's international ambitions as we certainly share the vision of bringing La Liga action closer to fans everywhere and making LaLiga a stronger international brand," he told BBC Sport.

"We continue to work towards playing a LaLiga match outside of Spain and want to do that as soon as possible. We are working with all stakeholders to make it happen. We see this as a logical next step in the growth of our league and as a clear benefit to everyone involved."

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Julen Lopetegui insists he would have used Vinicius Junior at Real Madrid this season, despite giving the teenager limited opportunities when he was in charge.

The highly rated Brazilian arrived at Madrid from Flamengo ahead of the 2018-19 campaign and was tipped to help fill the void left by departing great Cristiano Ronaldo.

But Vinicius played just 12 minutes across two substitute appearances in LaLiga before Lopetegui was sacked at the end of October, having himself endured a tough start to life at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Vinicius has subsequently established himself as a star man, scoring against Real Valladolid and Deportivo Alaves.

While some have wondered if Vinicius would have had the same impact had Lopetegui kept his job, the former Spain coach is adamant he was simply biding his time with the winger.

"Vinicius was in a period of adaptation and the time factor was very important," Lopetegui told El Partidazo.

"He was going to play because seasons last 10 months and not a month and a half. It is evident that he is a player who was in our plans.

"In the future, he would have played with us and there is no doubt he has a great future ahead of him."

Lopetegui endured a difficult 2018 as his agreement to join Madrid on the eve of the World Cup saw him sacked as Spain boss, before he departed the European champions less than five months later.

But the coach says he was glad to have the opportunity to lead two footballing heavyweights and hopes to grow from the experience.

"I had two extraordinary experiences as a coach and I enjoyed it a lot," he said. "We arrived at the World Cup very well prepared.

"At Madrid, it didn't last as long as we wanted. But there are situations that make you stronger and give you thicker skin."

Luka Jovic is the Bundesliga's most prolific forward this season and his performances for Eintracht Frankfurt have not gone unnoticed.

With a league-high 14 goals and 20 in all competitions, Jovic has been linked with Barcelona and reports have even gone as far to say the 21-year-old already has a personal agreement to join the LaLiga champions.

A product of Serbian giants Red Star Belgrade, Jovic – like many before him – was lured away from the capital by Benfica in 2016. He only made four appearances at Estadio da Luz, eventually moving to Frankfurt on a two-year loan deal.

The transfer included an option to buy and Frankfurt's decision to invest in Jovic has proved to be a masterstroke when you consider the reported fee stands at €7million and they could be set to receive in excess of €40m for the Serbia international.

Jovic's value has soared this season following an eight-goal Bundesliga campaign in 2017-18.

Jovic, who has already made history after becoming the youngest player to score five goals in a Bundesliga match during October's 7-1 rout of Fortuna Dusseldorf, has a better minutes-to-goal ratio (94) and shot conversion rate (31.82) than Lewandowski (144.46 and 21.31) and Thomas Muller (376.5 and 14.29), per Opta data.

His shooting accuracy (54.55) is also far superior to Lewandowski (39.34), while Jovic has also converted eight "big chances" and created 16 opportunities - making him a versatile threat up front.

With another six goals en route to the Europa League last 16, in-demand Jovic is seen as the ideal successor to Luis Suarez at Camp Nou. And as the goals continue to flow, Barca may be set for a transfer war amid interest from rivals Real Madrid and Chelsea.

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City won the trophy last season after beating Arsenal 3-0 in the final, as well as getting their hands on a third Premier League title.

The club are yet to retain a trophy in their history – something Silva wants to see corrected against Maurizio Sarri's side at Wembley.

"It would mean a lot for the history of the club," he said.

"That is one of our main goals: not only winning it once but keep winning and winning.

"We know we have the squad to do that but our opponents are very strong and it won't be an easy job."

City thumped Chelsea in the Premier League 6-0 less than a fortnight ago, but Silva insists it will be a far tougher game this time around.

"We should forget that match because it won't happen again," he added.

"We are not expecting the same result. We are playing against one of the best sides in the world, even though lately their results are not the best for them.

"Against those kind of players you can never relax and if you give them time to think, time to play and time to decide [what to do], they will destroy you. So, we have to play with the same intensity."